Richard Grayson
Richard "Dick" Grayson was the original Robin to the original Batman. Grayson was the one that Bruce Wayne cared for the most and despite not being biologically related, Wayne ended up adopting Grayson as his son and the two came to respect each other as father and son. Following Wayne's death, Grayson acted as if he had been cut off from all emotion. Following his tenure as Robin, Richard would act as the vigilante known to the world as Nightwing. This was to further distance himself from Bruce after a fallout with his mentor. Richard would leave Gotham, only to eventually return. Eventually Richard would mend his relationship with Bruce. Richard was also the third person to wear the mantle of the Bat. Richard's tenure as Batman lasted little over a year and for the most of it, he only assumed it for when Bruce was missing. After Bruce would return to Gotham, Richard would return to his mantle as Nightwing, knowing that he would have to become Batman again someday. Biography Robin, the Boy Wonder After being born in Haley's Circus to John Grayson and Mary Grayson, Richard was marked by the Court of Owls as a potential Talon. In order to mark this, an owl insignia would be implanted in one of his teeth. Richard grew up to join the Flying Graysons with his parents, headling Haley's. However, on one fateful night, when Richard was was barely fifteen, his parent's were killed while performing by Tony Zucco. The day was coincidentally Mary Grayson's birthday, with Richard having had given her a bracelet of a robin bird earlier. Witness Bruce Wayne took in Richard as his legal ward, and later son, though Richard was initially disdainful to the billionaire playboy; Richard did note that Bruce did not seem reckless and uncaring up close, though. At the orphanage before Bruce finished the adoption, Richard spent much of his time planning on a way to get revenge on Zucco, attempting to become a vigilante himself. After seeing the vigilante Batman in action himself, Richard began aiding the Dark Knight in his fights, with the latter never stopping him. Richard was also able to deduce Bruce Wayne and the Batman to be one person. After being taken to the Batcave, the caped crusader offered to train Richard to be his sidekick. Eventually Wayne was able to strike a deal with the orphange and allow Richard to live at Wayne Manor, all the while Richard trained day and night to enact his revenge on Zucco. After months of training, Richard made his debut as the vigilante Robin by helping rescue Bruce from Lady Shiva. The two formed the team of Batman and Robin, the Dynamic Duo. During Richard's tenure as Robin, he had a small relationship with Starfire and a friendship with Roy Harper. Richard also flirted with the possibility of a romance with Batgirl, but it never truly materialized. Eventually Richard came to love Bruce as he did his own father, coming to respect Bruce as a father as well. Richard fought the supervillain Tusk several times during his tenure as Robin. Nightwing Richard's relationship with Bruce eventually began begin to sour and then drop to the point where they began to hate each other. Richard abandoned his role as Robin and took up a new identity, that of Nightwing. Richard returned to Gotham twice in this period, first to help repair his relationship with Bruce after the death of Jason Todd and then to criticize his decision of not making him the next Batman. During this time, Richard once again fought Tusk. However, both returns did good for Bruce and Richard as the two repaired their relationship. Rot in Purgatory Richard soon helped Bruce take down Thomas Elliot and combat Simon Hurt and the Black Glove. After Bruce was assumed dead at the hands of Darkseid, Richard's emotions were put overboard as he grew to be cold, calculating and uncaring as Bruce was after the death of his parents. Seeking to repay his debt to Bruce, Richard decided to raise his "brother" Damian Wayne in a fashion similar to Bruce raised him. After a fight with the resurrected Jason Todd, Richard realized that he was not just the heir of Bruce Wayne but also the heir of Batman. After tkaing the mantle of the bat, Richard made Damian his Robin. With the two ending up with a brotherly bond, Richard's attitude returned to what it was prior to Bruce's death, though he was nevertheless harsher. Richard took out many of the gangs that had arisen during Bruce's absence and fought against Professor Pyg, the ressurected Jason Todd, the Jeremiah Arkham incarnation of the Black mask. After an insane clone of Bruce Wayne attacked, Richard was forced to deal with the Black Glove and the fact that Bruce was stuck back in time. Richard and Damian were initially defeated by Hurt, but rebounded upon the return of Bruce. Destroying the mechanisms of the Black Glove, Richard and Damian solidified themselves as Batman and Robin. However, upon Bruce's return, Richard gave up his role as Batman in order to ensure the success of Batman Incorporated. Despite this, he continued to operate as the Dark Knight until Bruce finished gathering vigilantes around the world for the program. Prince of Gotham Eventually Richard returned to the Nightwing identity, though he remained a member of Batman Incorproated. He only became Nightwing again due to Bruce's return to Gotham making him the only needed Batman. After helping Bruce tame an outbreak at Arkham Asylum, Nightwing was forced to confront Saiko, actually his childhood friend Raymond. Soon after he learned that William Cobb, the Talon, was his great-grandfather. The Talon himself confronted Richard, angry that he joined Batman instead of the Court of Owls. In battle, Richard defeated Cobb. All the while planning on renovating Amusement Mile, Nightwing was forced to fight Paragon and the Republic of Tomorrow, Long and Lady Shiva. When the Joker returned to Gotham, he proceeded to make Richard's life a living hell by destroying all of his plans for Amusement Mile. Richard was the only one who immediately forgave Bruce for keeping secrets about the Joker, continuing to aid him in Batman Incorporated. However, after the death of Damian at the hands of the Heretic and the finale of the Battle of Gotham City, Richard's relationship with Bruce once again began to deteriorate. Richard went from barely talking to Bruce, to completely avoiding him. During this time Richard was considered as a possible member of the Justice League, though he declined to join simply because of Bruce. After learning Tony Zucco to be alive and working in Chicago, Richard relocated his vigilante activities there, all while distancing himself from Bruce, to find his parent's killer. However, the police system did not take too kindly to having a "mask" in their city and targetted him as a villain. In Chicago, Richard came in conflict with the Prankster. Using the Prankster to find Zucco, Nightwing was shocked and angered when he discovered the man had gone clean. Before Nightwing could capture Zucco, the Prankster escaped and began to wreak havoc all across the city. Blaming the chaos on himself, Nightwing worked desperately to stop the madman, only to find help from Zucco. In the end, Richard stopped the Prankster and finally got closure with Zucco. Richard then teamed up with Barbara to take down Firefly. Deciding to continue his patrol in Chicago, Richard found the Marionette and the Mad Hatter involved in a teamup for Kanium. Richard returned to Gotham from Chicago temporarily to confront Bruce about Damian's death, findint out what happened to Tusk as well. Entering an Internet 3.0 simulation recreating the moment Heretic killed the young Robin, together Batman and Nightwing stopped the murder. With this Richard helped Bruce accept that Damian was gone and as the prodigal son of Batman, began to repair his relationship with Bruce once more. When Victor Zsasz showed up in Chicago, Nightwing fought him and returned to Gotham again to drop him off at Arkham Asylum. However, at Arkham, Nightwing was kidnapped by the Crime Syndicate. Nightwing's secret identity of Richard "Dick" Grayson was then exposed to the public, as a means to assert the Crime Syndicate's authority over the people of Earth Prime. However, he learned that despite being from different universes, Owlman cared for him like a brother and wished for the two to be the ones to stop the Crime Syndicate. Begrudgingly, Richard agreed. However, Richard was placed in the Murder Machine by Ultraman, with the only way out being his death and due to this, the former Nightwing was suffocated due to an "executive decision" made by Lex Luthor. Although he was later revived, with his identity compromised, Richard's death was faked and the Nightwing identity abandoned. He was then asked by Bruce to infiltrate the organization of Spyral as a spy. Personality A world class acrobat, martial artist and detective, Richard was barely fifteen when his parent's deaths caused his world to change. Richard always looked forward, contrast to Bruce who always remembered his parent's deaths, and celebrated the lives of his parents. This undaunting optimism was put to the test many times, especially when Richard was forced to face the ghosts of his past, the Court of Owls and even the Joker. Relationships Bruce Wayne Following the deaths of Richard's parents, he was adopted by Bruce. Though their relationship got off to a rocky start, after becoming Robin, Richard would begin to respect Bruce more and moreually accept the Batman as hiss surrogate father. After he had a falling out with Bruce, Richard would pretend not to care for Bruce anymore, but would return to Gotham after the death of Jason Todd. Richard would reaffirm his loyalty to Bruce and respect and love Bruce as his father. Being the First Son of Batman and the heir to Wayne Manor, Richard would become the Prince of Gotham. Damian Wayne Following the dissapearance of Bruce Wayne, Richard would become Batman and Bruce's only biological son, Damian Wayne, would become Robin. Richard would try to repay his debt to Bruce in Damian by raising the boy much like Bruce had raised him. Richard and Damian would grow a brotherly bond, though much like Bruce and Richard, the two would have a rocky start. Their relationship would grow to such an extent that Damian, initially criticizing of Richard as Batman, would defend Richard as the rightful heir to Bruce Wayne in front of Talia al Ghul. Earth 3 On Earth 3, Richard Grayson 3 was taken in by Owlman and became the assistant of the tyrant known as Talon. The two acted like brothers, but after Owlman revealed to Richard 3 the truth behind his parent's deaths, he went out to try and capture the Joker himself. Richard 3 was killed and chopped up into pieces. Category:Batman Family